


The Ninth

by KevintheJace



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2018-12-26 19:19:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12065364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KevintheJace/pseuds/KevintheJace
Summary: Liliana Vess is a escaped slave from the thrall of a planet beyond Pluto. After her hastily stolen ship crashes on Earth, she is confronted with two new and unexpected problems: First, a high school student named Jace Beleren comes across one of the fragment of the ship. And second, now he has access to alien technology. With his mind, it spells potential disaster. That is, if Liliana can't wrap the boy around her finger fast enough. With that mess, being stranded on a new planet and a race of superior aliens hunting her, life as a tool for free labor is starting to sound like a better deal.





	1. Arrival

Liliana woke to the extremely unpleasant sounds of sirens.

She stepped out of bed and opened the door of her cabin, “Computer, what's going on?”

“Our ship has entered the inside of our system and are currently headed towards the surface of its third planet.” An automated voice informed her.

“Damnit.” Liliana took a seat in the cockpit of her ship, “Is there anyway we can avoid it?”

“No. Impact with the planet is inevitable. Had we changed course a few minutes ago, we could've employed evasive maneuvers.”

“Oh, how convenient.” Liliana grabbed the ship’s joystick. It was stuck.

She growled in exasperation. She slammed a keypad on the hallway from the cockpit. A small closet door hissed open. She grabbed a black sky suit.

Liliana discarded her officer clothing, put on the suit and tied her long black hair up. She placed a tight helmet over her head and slapped a cuff on her right wrist, containing a portable bit of her ship’s computer.

“Computer, open the dock.”

Winds whipped through the vessel. Liliana looked back. The front of the ship was heating up.

Liliana backed up and ran down the hall and leapt from the docking door.  
__________________

“You idiots are lucky I don't drink.” Jace dragged a black out drunk Ral Zarek through a driveway followed by a tipsy Kallist Rhoka and Gideon Jura. He opened the back seat of his car and shoved Ral and Gideon in.

“We can-we can drive by ourselves.” Kallist slurred as he tried to open the driver’s seat door.

“Hey, hey, Kallist. No. You're too drunk.”

“I wanna fly the car!”

“No! Passenger’s seat! Now.” Jace shouted.

“Fine, asshat.” Kallist did as Jace told him.

Jace got into the driver’s seat and started the car, pulling out of the drive. Chandra Nalaar had hosted a party that night. Jace wasn't one for parties, but he knew his friends would indulge.

He drove through the suburban neighborhood. The roads were pretty much empty because, well, it was the suburbs. And a school night.

Jace was in the middle of his junior year and it was hell. How did people have time for this stuff when hours upon hours of homework were dealt out each day?

He groaned when his headlights came upon a barricade of traffic barrels with a detour sign. That meant he would have to go through the fields to get back to their neighborhood. He made right turn, into the farmland nearby.

He drove through the corn fields for a good ten minutes before he heard a soft boom come from outside.

Light radiated through the night. Jace peered out the windshield. It looked like a meteor.

The object broke into a ton of pieces. Jace looked closer. He realized one of the pieces was headed for him.

“Oh shit!” Jace put the car in reverse and slammed on the gas.

The segment slammed into one of the fields, dirt and crops spewing everywhere. The field erupted in fire.

Jace parked the car somewhat hidden and stepped out, running over to the crash site.

He looked at it, seeing moon light reflect off it. The object was metal. It looked like the hull of a steel bunker that had been smashed with a sledge hammer for days.

Jace stepped through the fire and grabbed a corn stalk. He poked the stalk at the object. It didn't burst into flames, so he assumed it was safe to touch. He found two hinges and grabbed on them. He pulled until the hatch popped open. Inside, was a black case.

“What was that?” He heard someone approaching. 

“Over there! Look!”

Jace grabbed the case and ran. He got in his car and drove off with a squealing of his tires.  
_______________________________

Liliana dove through the night sky. She pressed a few buttons on her wrist mount computer and activate two thrusters on the bottom of her boots. She watched as the rest of her ship crashed into the distance.

“Computer, give me the directions to the estimated crash site.”

The screen on her computer displayed a route to the wreckage

“Computer, scan our surroundings and turn my translator to the language of whatever lives here.”

“Most common language spoken: English. Unknown. Language samples are required. Species spoken by: Human.”

“What? Humans? Here?”

“It appears there is a significant population of them and they have dominated the planet’s land surface.”

“I thought the Korvex wiped them out.”

“Korvex records display the eradication of humans from this planet.”

“Maybe there was a small population that survived.”

“There are primitive records kept in multiple data bases across the planet and are easily accessible. Would you like me to go through them?”

“Yes.”

“There are no accounts of Korvex intervention in human history.”

“How is that possible?”

“Korvex radiation is capable of memory wiping individuals. Perhaps they used this after their arrival.”

“Speaking of which, where’s my cargo?”

“It is still intact at the crash site.”

“Take me there.”  
_______________________________

Jace pulled into his garage. He had just dropped off his friends to disappointed parents. 

He sat down at his father’s workbench and placed the case on the table. He inspected it for any latches, but failed to find anything to open it. 

That is, until he found a sliding panel in the front of the case. Underneath it, was a handprint scanner surrounded with blue light. The print looked human enough. He placed his hand on it.

Much to his surprise, the lights turned green and he heard a faint click before the case opened itself.

Inside, was a small cube about the size of his fist. Blue light emanated from lines ingrained in the cube. A circular button rested atop the box.

He placed his finger on the button.

“Don't you dare press that button.” A female voice whispered from behind him. He felt cold metal make contact with his neck and a whirring sound. It felt like the barrel of a gun.

Jace raised both his hands, “Is this yours?”

“In a sense.” A hand reached for the box.

Jace whirled around, grabbing the muzzle of the gun and turning it inward and twisting down, wrenching it from his attacker’s hand.

He got his first look at her and was confused. She had Raven hair and porcelain skin. Her face was as covered by a mask of polarized glass and she wore a skin tight Nano fiber suit. She looked...human. More or less.

“This thing came from space, right?”

“Yes. And a primitive life form like yourself shouldn't be messing with it.”

“Primitive? You're the same species as me!”

“What? You're not human?”

“You're not?”

Jace grabbed a hammer and placed the gun on his table.

“No, no, no!”

Jace smashed the hammer into her gun. He raised his arm and hit it again.

“You colossal invalid!” The girl yelled, “We’re helpless now!”

“What do you mean we’re helpless?”

She exhaled with exasperation, “My name is Liliana Vess. I'm from another world. My people call it Planet Nine. Our planet exists far from what you call Pluto.”

“Wait, there's another plane-”

“Don't! Don't interrupt me.” Liliana yelled, “Thousands of years ago, a series of Celtic tribes disappeared off the face of this planet. Those were my ancestors. Planet Nine natives called the Korvex enslaved them for their superior physical ability and the ability to improvise work.”

“So you are human.”

“No. We were genetically modified to survive Planet Nine’s cold and atmosphere. I'm also a half breed of Korvex and human. So, I'm not human.”

“And now, I’m up against a race of superior beings with nothing. I’m a runaway.

“Why do you want this box?”

“It holds something very dangerous and very important to me.”

Jace held his finger over the button.

“No, don't push that!”

“Why not?”

“It'll release something you couldn't possibly control or understand.”

Jace’s finger drew closer to the button.

“Why are you still threatening to push it?”

“Because I don't exactly place trust in you. It might even help me against you.” Jace pressed the button.

“NO!”

The box folded out. Light spilled from it. It was blue and blinding. Jace screamed, covering his eyes. His retinas were seared.

The light soon disappeared.

Jace breathed heavily, on the ground, “Damnit! Shit!”

“I told you what was gonna happen!”

Jace opened his eyes. Everything was white, “I can't see. I fucking see!”

Liliana grabbed the opened case off the workbench and slid open another panel on the inside. She grabbed a vial of liquid.

Jace was muttering about his sight and trying to stand up. Liliana pushed him down and opened the vial, “Stay still.”

She forced Jace's left eye open. His pupil was milky white. She poured a few drops of liquid into his eye. She did the same with the other one. Jace blinked several times.

“The hell?” Jace’s vision was back. It was blurry, but it was back.

Liliana stood, “I was developing an antidote to the blindness caused by that thing. Surprised to see it actually worked.”

“What was that?”

“That was a very contained bit of radiation.”

“I have a killer headache.”

“It'll do that to you.” Liliana gritted her teeth, “Korvex radiation will either gift humans with powerful abilities, or it will kill them. For Korvex, it's death no matter what. You're so lucky we were the only ones in its range. Even more so that we’re still alive.

“What powerful abilities?”

“I don’t fucking know.” Liliana shrugged, “Whatever. I only came here to get that case back. Now I’m defenseless too. Just...don’t tell people about me and what not.”

Liliana turned her back and began walking away.

“Hey.” Jace said, “You need a place to stay?”

“Why?”

“First off, you don’t know shit about our planet. Second, I feel bad for using your super weapon.”

Liliana hesitated, “Fine. Then, get me something to eat. I’m starving.”


	2. Getting Settled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Liliana tries to fit in to her new environment. It's not going well

Jace and Liliana went inside his house, “You can wear some old clothes of my mother’s and-”

He noticed Liliana was staring in front of them. At his dining table, sat his parents. Gav and Ranna Beleren.

“Oh...hey dad. Mom.” Jace gave a slight wave, ‘We, uh, had to take a detour through the fields because of construction and stuff. And I also had to drop off Gideon, Kallist and Ral.”

“Who is this?” his mother asked.

“Oh! This is...Liliana. Vess. Liliana Vess. My...friend.”

His parents’ stern expressions left their face, “We’re just kidding! It’s so refreshing to finally see you with a girl!” his dad chuckled, “Besides, we know you’re too worried about your future to do anything like drugs.”

“Thanks, dad.” Jace said sarcastically.

“Oh, look at her, Gav. Isn’t she beautiful?”

“What are they doing?” Liliana whispered.

“Just don’t resist.”

“She is, but, uh...Jace, what’s that she’s wearing?” Jace's father was obiviously referring to Liliana's skin tight black jump suit, which Jace hadn't really noticed before.

“Oh, you know teenagers. What with their new age styles and all.” Jace gave a nervous chuckle and dragged Liliana out of the room.

Jace closed the door to his bedroom.

“What was that about?” Liliana asked.

“Well, to be honest, you're um...not exactly wearing modest clothing.” Jace said.

“This is a sky suit. I need it to live.”

“Well wear something over it.”

“You really need to be more open with your sexuality.”

“What?”

“I wasn’t born yesterday. I know when I see someone trying to hide their lust. In my culture, sexuality is strictly scientific. It’s good for your brain.”

Jace stared at the girl, “Well, I’ll consider that advice. You can sleep on the couch tonight. I’ll figure out what to do with you tomorrow.”  
_______________________________________

Jace’s dreams were pierced by the sound of his alarm. He rolled over and turned it off.

Jace woke up at five in the morning so he could time to enjoy his mornings. He pulled on a loose shirt and a pair of running shorts. He grabbed his phone and walked out to his living room.

Liliana was not on the couch. He raised an eyebrow.

He jogged his way down to the fields over the course of twenty minutes. He quickly found Liliana hiding on the edges of the forest.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Liliana turned, startled. She spoke something, but it sounded like gibberish to Jace. She fiddled with a black collar around her neck.

“What?” she said in English.

“Huh, I thought it was weird you knew English.” Jace frowned, “What are you doing here?”

“Trying to salvage my wreck.”

“Looks like it hasn’t been confiscated yet.”

“We should go get it now.”

“Get what?”

“Anything we can. Help me out.”

She ran over to the wreckage and dug through it.

She lifted a metal panel and pulled out a glowing blue spherical object, “Look for power sources like these.”

Jace shrugged and joined in, sifting through the debris. Over the course of the next half hour, they dug up a sizable handful of the devices.

“So what exactly do these do?”

They were headed back to Jace’s house.

“They’ll let us power technology far beyond anything this planet could come up with.”

“I think I can help with that. I know a guy.”

“Who is he?”

“Good friend of mine. His name’s Tezzeret. And he’s like a superhero when it comes to mechanical engineering. I’ll introduce you after school.”

“School?”

“Yeah. Do they not have school for you guys?”

“Yes, but you still go to school at your age?”

“We all do until we’re eighteen. And then go for another 2-8 years if you go to college.”

Liliana shuddered, “Wasting a quarter of your life on that?”

“Well, you need to go to school to succeed.”

“We get all our schooling over by the time we’re pubescent. Hormones makes us practically useless when it comes to intellectual jobs. We’re trained in only one field and sent to do that for the rest of our lives. We come out just as smart, if not more so.”

“Try as you might, there’s no escaping it here. Don’t worry. I’ll be out by 3:00.”  
______________________________________________________________  
Jace sat down in his homeroom. Everyone was as talkative as usual. Gideon, Kallist and Ral looked dazed and weary. As expected.

Chandra Nalaar appeared in his peripheral. Shit.

“Hey, dickbag, why the fuck did I see your bitch face at my party last night?”

“Because my friends needed to not be arrested and you said it was open to anyone.”

“Yeah, everyone except you.”

“Then maybe you should’ve specified that.”

Him and his long words and shit.

“Specified isn’t that long of a word.”

“Huh?”

“Did you not just say something?”

“No, dipshit.”

A confused expression washed over Jace’s face like a flood, “Then who…”

“You makin’ fun of me punk?”

“What? No!”

“Bullshit!” Chandra grabbed Jace’s shirt collar. She dragged him into the halls and threw him against the lockers.

“What are doing?”

“Teachin’ you a lesson about respect.” Chandra clenched her fists, “Lesson one, unit one: How to take fuckin’ beating.”

Her fist slammed into Jace’s gut. He lost his breath and collapsed on the ground, coughing. Chandra lifted her foot and stomped on his back, forcing him all the way to the ground.

She repeatedly kicked him in the stomach, unrelenting.

She stopped and shoved him against the lockers again.

“Fuckin’ piece of shit.”

Jace heard whispers. Whispers of...thought.Yes. That’s what he heard earlier.

Jace grinned.

“The fuck you smilin’ ‘bout, bitch?”

“I have a theory,” Jace croaked, “You think yourself a rebel. Your parents are rather authoritative, but wealthy. You act out in ways like beating the shit out of me to show you quote unquote ‘Don’t give a fuck’. But you do give a fuck. You claim to disregard authority, but you fear your parents. You beat yourself up and think they hate you because you aren’t as smart as the other rich kids. The moment they enter the room, you become the well-mannered, yet remarkably dull child they raised.”

Chandra wrapped her hand around Jace’s throat and squeezed the air from his lungs, “You don’t know me, you shit ass. I’ll fuckin’ kill you.”

“Do it, renegade. Do it. What will your mother and father think when they find out their daughter’s a murderer?” Jace gasped.

Chandra squeezed tighter, seething.

Jace couldn’t speak anymore. His vision was going dark.

Something hit Chandra. Jace’s lungs filled with air again. He breathed heavily.

Chandra stood to face the force that had hit her.

Liliana stood there in a fighting stance.

“Liliana?” Jace whisper-yelled, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I can’t let you die just yet.”

“She wasn’t gonna kill me!”

“You underestimate her. She’s driven by emotion, not logic like you. She would’ve killed you just to prove you wrong, no matter the consequences.”

“How do you know?” Jace asked.

“My people have a system of classifying people by color. She’s primarily red. The color of emotion and chaos.”

Chandra glared at the black haired girl across from her, “Who the hell are you?”

“Just a passerby.”

“You better move. I’ll end you.”

“Try and kill me. I dare you.”

“You want some Muay Thai, bitch?”

Chandra ran and swung her elbow into Liliana’s face.

Amazingly, she blocked and counter attacked in less than a second. With a quick punch, Chandra stumbled back.

Chandra attacked with a flurry of kicks and strikes. Each of them either missed their target or were blocked.

Liliana blocked a punch while landing an elbow strike to Nalaar’s jaw. Her striking arm snaked around the back of her neck and pulled Chandra’s head into Liliana’s knee. She turned Chandra around, her arm locked behind her. Liliana grabbed the opposite side of Chandra’s head and threw while spinning her.

Nalaar landed on the ground with a painful thump.

“What the hell happened?” Liliana asked, pulling Jace to his feet.

“Just a misunderstanding.”

“That looked like more than a misunderstanding.”

Jace shrugged.

“You used your power.”

“What?”

“Your power. From the radiation. It's telepathy.”

“How did you know?”

“Again, genetic mutation. We were edited to have a sensitivity to Korvex radiation. That way, we could tell if someone had gotten a hold of it and rat them out.”

“What about the Korvex themselves?”

“Oh, they have a much higher sensitivity to it. If any of them are here, they know where you are.”

“That doesn't seem good.”

“Yeah, we might want to go see this mechanic of yours. Now.”


	3. Building the Armory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jace and Liliana visit Tezzeret, a lowly mechanic and friend of Jace's to help them construct weaponry to fight off Liliana's Korvex masters.

“Hey, Tezz!” Jace shouted as lifted up the garage door of a repair shop.

There was a man sleeping in a shoddy wooden chair. Liliana could smell his putrid, oil stricken odor from here.

“Wake up, buddy.” Jace lightly slapped the man’s cheek a few times.

“What the hell?” Tezzeret groaned, “Shouldn't you be at school? It's only eight.”

“Got into a scuffle. But, I do have something interesting you might want to take a look at.”

“Who's she?” Tezzeret pointed at Liliana.

“Her name’s Liliana. She's…”

“An accomplice.” Liliana interjected.

“An accomplice. We found something cool.” Jace beckoned Liliana over to a workbench.

She set a giant cardboard box on it, filled with glowing energy cores, machinery and other parts.

Tezzeret quizzically stared at the materials, “What the hell is this stuff?”

“Uh…” Jace scratched the head, “We were hoping you could tell us that.”

Tezzeret grabbed an energy core and twisted it, separating it into two pieces. He inspected the inside of the device, “Hmm...Basic copper wiring. What the…”

Tezzeret dug around the intricate circuitry and produced a small blue gem about the size of his fingertip.  
“This is new.”

“You think you can work with this?” Jace asked.

“Work how?” Tezzeret asked, inspecting the crystal.

Jace turned to Liliana, “What do you want him to make?”

“Weapons,” Liliana whispered.

“Weapons!” Jace whispered back, “We can’t just ask him to make weapons! I thought you were gonna say like an engine or something!”

“Well, tell him to build weapons. We’re dead without them.” Liliana said.

Jace sighed, “We need you to make us some weapons.”

“Weapons?” Tezzeret looked back at Jace, eyebrow raised, “Sure. Whatever man.”

“Seriously? Just like that?”

“Hey, I owe you a favor for keepin’ city hall off my back all this time.”

“Oh yeah. I guess that was a thing.” Jace mumbled.

“So what do you want me to make?” Tezzeret put the crystal back in its place and dug through some more of the material.

Liliana spoke up, “I need an Ether Blade and an APR.”

“APR?” Tezzeret asked.

“Attuned Photon Rifle.”

“I’m a mechanic, not a scientist.” Tezzeret frowned.

Liliana placed a satchel on the workbench. It was filled with cuboidal grey rods. Liliana drew one from the bag and pressed a blue button on the end of it. Segment of the lower half folded down as a holographic screen was generated in it.

Liliana tossed the holographic pad to Tezzeret. He caught it and stared in amazement.

“Who in the hell are you?” Tezzeret looked at the screen, “It's a blueprint.”

Jace gave an exhausted sigh, “She’s an alien. An alien from a planet beyond Pluto. Basically, she’s an escaped slave and her masters are after her.”

“You’re joking, right?”

Jace grabbed Tezzeret’s shoulder, “Tezz, swear to me you won’t breathe a word about this. All we need is a stockpile and we’ll be out of your hair.”

Tezzeret craned his neck to look at the box of materials again, “That’s alien tech?”

“Tezzeret!” Jace shook the mechanic.

“Okay, okay. I’ll keep quiet.”

“Thank you.” Jace let go of him.

“There’s one problem, though.” Tezzeret said.

“What’s that?”

“This stuff looks badass...but I can read any of this.”  
____________________________________________

“Yeah.” Jace said into his phone, “Love you too, Mom.”

Jace hung up.

“We’re clear for the next two days.”

“Good!” Tezzeret shouted from behind a 52 inch screen, “I’ve got this thing almost done!”

The screen turned on. Liliana placed a watch-like device in a makeshift hub.

“Ayox!” Liliana shouted, “This is Operator 237X6H, Liliana Vess.”

A strange looking sigil appeared on the screen. An automated voice replied, “Hello, Operator Vess. How may I assist you today?”

“Woah!” Tezzeret came out from behind the screen and looked at it, “Is that some kind of alien supercomputer?”

“Correction,” the AI responded, “I am Ayox, Korvex utility intelligence. I can infer that you intend to craft an item based on the machines I am connected with?”

“Nice to meet you, Ayox.” Tezzeret smiled, “And yes, we would like your help.”

“Why are you treating it like its human?” Liliana stared at Tezzeret strangely, “Ayox is artificial intelligence. It values nothing in your sentiment.”

Tezzeret ignored her.

“Liliana,” Jace shouted, flipping through the slides on a holo screen, “We need to make Aether Units.”

Liliana turned, “How do you know what an Aether Unit is?”

“It says it in here.” Jace said, “I translated it. These things look badass. They’re like Iron Man suits with more superpowers.”

“We can’t build Units anyway. They take way too many resources and way too much time.”

“The payoff seems worth it, though.” Jace put the screen down, “Besides, if we divide and conquer, I’m sure we can get this stuff done in no time.”

Liliana sighed.

“Come on, we can each have one.” Jace pleaded.

“Fine. We can each make one.” Liliana grabbed a blueprint, “We’re gonna have to get started on these hulls, then.”

“In that case, we might want to ask my parents for some more time.”

“No need,” Liliana turned to Ayox, “Ayox! Construct a genetic copy of Jace! Send it to his household to live as he would normally. Terminate it when he commands!”

“Wait, we can make clones?” Jace was smiling, wide-eyed.

“Well...yeah.” Liliana said, “But we can only have one at a time, lest your DNA gets corrupted and Ayox makes some kind of horrid fusion of two beings.”

“Huh. Too bad. I was thinking we could just have the clones do the work.”

“I would’ve done that if I could’ve.” Liliana frowned.

“Hey, Where’d Tezzeret go?” Jace looked around.

“I have a day job, still!” Tezzeret called from the front of his building, “You two get to work.”  
_________________________________________________

A few hours passed by and Jace and Liliana had constructed the blueprints for creating the first Aether Unit that Jace would use. He called it Oracle.

If his designs were right - and they usually were - Oracle would be able to hone his telepathy such that he could manipulate memories. He threw in some extra features like invisibility, flight and telekinesis just in case.

Jace glanced over at Liliana. Both of them had been waiting for the completion of Oracle’s hull for well over an hour. She sat in a large window sill in the side of the garage. He couldn’t help but notice how the setting sun emanated a glow that outlined her form. It was pleasant to look at, to say the least.

He desperately thought of an excuse to talk to her.

He thought to himself, Face it, Beleren. She’s an alien visitor and you’re her host. No matter how much anxiety you muster up, you will have to talk to her. Okay...let’s start a conversation. Breathe. Alright. 3, 2, 1 go!

Jace stood and made his way over to Liliana.

“Uh, hi.” He started.

What the shit, Beleren?! Uh, hi? That was the best you could come up with?! You idiot!

“Hey,” She casually responded, “Need something?”

“Yeah, I uh, sorta want you to teach me to fight.”

“Teach you to fight? Why?” Liliana asked.

“Well, I saw you this morning and I thought ‘If I can’t even fend off a school bully, how am I supposed to fight off the Korvex?’”

“I guess that’s a reasonable thought. What do you want to learn?”

“Anything. Whatever it is you did.” Jace said.

“Well, the style I use is really ruthless and brutal. It's more focused on ‘how do I kill this person the fastest.’ I don't see you doing that. How about we try something more redirection focused.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I'll teach you, but it's late. Get some sleep.”

“You're right,” Jace yawned, “We worked hard today.”

“I believe it's common in your culture to wish you a ‘goodnight’. I don't really see the point, but you people have another saying: When in Rome...whatever that means,” Liliana smiled, “Did I get that right?”

“Yes.” Jace grinned back, “Goodnight.”


End file.
